


Love By Chance

by golgothasTerror



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Friendship/Love, M/M, Online Friendship, Online Romance, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2013-08-31
Updated: 2013-09-11
Packaged: 2017-12-25 04:36:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,673
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/948694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/golgothasTerror/pseuds/golgothasTerror
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Set in alternate universe, Jake and Dirk meet face to face, without realizing that they already know each other through the internet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a tumblr prompt that was posted by dirk-booty-strider, and I read it out, and then just sorta went WHELP THERE GOES MY EVENING, opened up a AO3 tab and words happened. This will have more than one chapter, because with the ideas that I had, it would've been too long for a one shot. I wanted to be able to break it up and not rush it. c: This chapter is leading the way into the idea that the tumblr post gave.
> 
> ((I just now got done writing chapter 4 of another fic of mine, and I've had a long 15 hour day, and I'm going to pass out soon. XD Though, I really wanted to at least get this going and start it off, the writing might be a little.. less descriptive than what I usually do. ))

The bell at the entrance of the coffee shop chimes.

Even so, you let yourself be nearly knocked over by the incoming customer.

It wasn't your fault that your student ID card had slipped from your grip, as you searched your pockets for needed change. 

Who's bright idea was it to put the check out line so dang close to the entrance of the place, anyway?

Your name is Jake English, and you're just trying to get a small snack from the local Starbucks before the long school day kicks off. If that wasn't enough on it's own, you've also misplaced your cash, dropped your card, and on the way back up you've managed to bump into another customer. You now probably look like a bumbling idiot in front of the entire cafe. Some of the seats are occupied by fellow students, who are probably going to laugh at you for it later on in the day. Oh joy! 

While you're bumbling around, and trying to recover from the collision, the cashier repeats her earlier words. "Sir? That will be $4.13."

You rush, picking up the ID card, and stuffing back in your pocket, as you keep feeling around for change.

"You're short a dollar", the cashier continues.

"I know, I know!" Maybe you could search better if you weren't so flustered.

"Only a dollar?" You hear a deep voice from behind you asks. 

At first, you're not sure if he's talking directly to you, or talking to the cashier, and you're not really reacting just yet to make sure. Your focus is still on your pockets, and all of your cards, and cash - or lack there of, as far as cash goes. Then, you're aware of someone pushing past you. They move you out of the way, and approach the cashier. It's then that you realize, focus finally back on your surroundings, that it's the same person that you ran into to. 

"I can get that for you", he said, as he had slid past you. 

You trip up, mentally. "I-er-what? No! No no no, that's not necessary!" 

In seconds your hands are on the counter, and you're trying to steady yourself as you attempt to push him out of the way, but he's bigger than you you. He's taller, with a broader build, and your attempt to push him barely makes him budge. 

"Don't worry about it", he says, having already handed the cashier what remained of your payment. 

You look up at him, and he glances down at you. He looks kind enough, but he's not really smiling. His eyes are really something though, you notice. A rather bright shade of orange. They're a nice contrast with his light blonde hair. Your face goes a little bit red. You look back at the cashier, as she gives you a generic "Thank you, have a nice day!".

It's then that you notice the text books that are being held under his arm, and realize that he's a student at the same school you are. 

You also notice that you're still leaning against the check out counter, looking him over like a creeper. If not for any other reason, than he had just paid for part of your food, and also happened to be a fellow student that you had never seen around before. At all. Maybe he was new?

The boy must've caught on to your staring, because he snapped his fingers in front your vision, and you blinked as your brain shifted itself back into normal gear. You took the opportunity to at least step out of the check out line, muffin in one hand, and a school book in the other, but you stick close by your savior. You didn't really know what else to call him, but he _had_ just saved you time, money, and some embarrassment. 

He leaves the cafe without even buying anything, and you think that maybe he's not even realizing that fact himself. 

You follow him out of the door, and instead of leading, he holds in the door open for you to walk out first. He's standing in front of you, and you duck under his arm. Your height allows you to do so without much trouble, at least in comparison to his. There a few eyes on the both of you from back inside the cafe, but neither of you notice. One thing that does catch both of you off guard is the first school bell ringing from across the street. Ten minutes until homeroom class starts. You take a careful bite of your muffin, still trailing next to the stranger quietly, because lets be honest - you have no idea what to say.

You try your hand at starting up a conversation, anyway. "So, er.. are you a student?" Dumb. Of course he is, you saw his books.

He answers, anyway. "Yes", his walking pace slows, so that he's in sync with you. You look him over again.

"I'm gonna guess that we attend the same school", he adds. Apparently he had noticed your book, just as you had noticed his, and you nod.

"Right you are!" Your voice was back to it's normal, bouncy self, as if you were getting your bearings around him, finally. "Though, are you new? I've never seen you around". Your eyebrow raised curiously. The two of you crossed the street as you spoke, eventually edging onto the school grounds.

 

"Mmmhmm", he nodded lightly. "I transferred here from out of state." His words were all matter-of-fact, and his tone was always serious. You might've thought that he had been uninterested, had he not just paid for your breakfast, and then allowed you to walk with him out of a cafe.

"Oh, I see. Well then, no wonder! So you're pretty on your own, huh?"

"Yeah", his answer was hesitant, like maybe he was curious to as to what you were getting at. He would study you as you spoke, and instead of answering him this time, you just gazed right back. The two of you had stopped walking, but at least you were on school grounds, not in the middle of the road. God, his eyes were so freakin' orange. You'd never seen anything like it before. Well okay, you'd heard of it one time, technically.

Self awareness hit you like a ton of bricks. 

"I- golly, sorry!" You shift uncomfortably where you stand, but still don't resume walking. "Just.. your eyes really remind me of someone that I know. Their color, I mean". _Oh, that's bloody great, English, now you sound like some creeper!_ It was now obvious that you were staring at his eyes. You go, Jake, four for you.

He looked at you, shocked by your comment. "Do they now?"

"Er- yeah. They do. Or he's told me such tales before". You let out a small laugh, that almost shows how awkward you feel right now. It has a nervous edge to it, that you're sure he notices, as he asks another distracting question.

"He?" 

You're sure he's interested in you, despite how unamused his tone could be sometimes, because as his question rolled out, he pushed against your back lightly to motion that you both should probably start walking. Just a guess on his part, as they now had four minutes until the late bell rang, and they weren't even inside the school yet. Almost, almost. You walked first, due to his push, and he followed at your side. 

"Just an online friend of mine," you answer, glancing off to the side. You couldn't see his hand your back, but you could still lightly feel it there. You were still nervous, and half-twirled away from touch as you grabbed one of the doors, holding it open for him and as you stepped inside. He gave a small smile, or what was almost a smile, as thanks. "Buuuut, I have to head off that-a-way!" You motion towards the hallway to the far right, implying that you needed to pick up your pace. 

He gave you an understanding look. "That's fine."

"Hey! Um, if you don't mind my asking, what do I call y-"

"Dirk." He answers, before you finish, as if he knew you would ask before you left. 

Well, wasn't he a cocky son of a gun! You had a half a mind to retort that way, and tease him for his response. It felt a little familiar to you, for reasons that you couldn't quite pin point right this second.

"My name is Dirk", he confirms, fully.

You're still in some sort of shock, but blink it away. "Good! Then!" Righto, English, you've got such a way with words today. Crap. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Dirk." You reply, with some level of normality to your words again. Not a bad recovery. "My name is Jake!"

One minute until the final bell. It was safe to say that neither one of your were making it to class on time. Whoops!

Though, in your personal opinion, it was worth it.

"Well then, _Jake_. See you around?" 

You're suddenly quite happy, for reasons that you're not even entirely certain of, but you've just made a friend, and it was certainly a nice way to start off the day. As he spoke, he was turning to walk ahead towards his own class. He was giving you a small wave, maybe as both a greeting and a goodbye. Your own wave in return has a lot more energy to it, but that's just how you are. 

You had only known this Dirk for a few minutes, and yet the two of you walking together and interacting had felt fairly natural to you. 

Though, you didn't know yet why.

"You betcha!"


	2. GT is now online!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More than once, he had hinted to you that maybe he wanted it to be more than a friendship.
> 
> You, on the other hand, needed more than just text for that sort of thing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short chapter, but it's achieving what I need it too.

It was early morning when a ringing in your ears woke you up.

You shifted almost uncomfortably in your bed, rolling over to see your phone's screen lit up by what was probably an incoming Pesterchum message.

You would be right.

On the phone's screen sat a simple greeting. 

_TT: Good morning. Did you sleep okay?_

Your eyes read the words, but your brain was still half-focused on wanting to sleep some more. Unfortunately for you, it was 10 o' clock in the morning, and you felt like you needed to be at least a little productive before it was noon. The last week of school, and tests, and homework had you worn out. You thought that today, you'd spend your time doing something a little more lax. By lax you mean sitting and talking with your good buddy.

Your name is Jake English, and contrary to popular belief, even though you love adventure, you mostly just prefer to sit inside surrounded by works of fiction.

Also, by the internet.

Which is exactly what you plan to use to talk to your friend!

Deciding to skip answering the text message altogether, you slide your way out of bed, and onto your trusty desktop computer. All the while your hair and clothes are still disheveled from sleeping in at least four different weird positions. You ruffle your hair a bit with one hand, while the other keeps you steady as you plop down into the computer chair. It rolls, almost causing you to fall, but not quite.

You sit at the desk, eyes closed as if you could go back to sleep right then and there.

That might've happened, had it not been for the flash of bright yellow onto the comp screen, and your eyes opened again.

It was a Pesterchum window. One of your friends had seen you log on, as you had the program set to start up with the computer itself. 

You decide that your hair is a lost cause, and focus your attention on the chat window.

_TT: I'll take that as a Yes. Y'know, since you managed to actually wake up and get online.  
TT: Without passing out again, I mean._

You grin a little, but you sometimes wonder just how he always catches you so fast.

_GT: I'll have you know that it's 10 in the morning here. And i'm entirely capable of waking up earlier if i wanted!_

And you did sometimes - on school days!

You spun yourself from side to side on the chair in between replies, and the two of you went back and forth for what was nearly an hour. Conversations between you and your friend normally escalated quickly, and lasted for hours. You remember one day, the two of you had started talking in the early morning hours, and it continued late into the evening until the point where you headed off to bed. You had even left the house to make a run to a near by store, and would pull your phone out while idling in the middle of the isles. The two of you had been talking for a handful of months now - not quite a year, but sometimes it felt like it. 

You were both pretty inseparable, or at least as much as so as two people could get through means of an online friendship.

More than once, he had hinted to you that maybe he wanted it to be more than a friendship.

You, on the other hand, needed more than just text for that sort of thing. At one point you had played the idea. Asking yourself how you felt in regards to him, or about internet dating in general. You had come to conclusion that it just seemed too rough for you. He said that he had understood, but that didn't stop him from making passes at you. You flirted back on occasion, but to you, it was more or less a joke - which you felt bad about sometimes.

The chat window continued to blink.

He told you to be careful at school.

You said that of course you would, you'd learned your lesson about how _not_ to respond to bullies last year.

Sometime they gave you problems. Mostly for how you dressed, or all the books you read, or your shitty taste in movies that they'd heard you discussing with friends. They unfortunately would share their thoughts on the matter in physical ways. You had told TT about this one day after it had gone on, despite the fact you'd almost wanted to keep the information to yourself. 

That's when he had told you that if he'd been there, he would have beaten them senseless.

How did you manage to land such a cool friend?

Speaking of cool, your thoughts started to drift. 

They drifted all the way back to school, in fact, and more specifically to the Starbucks across from said school. The Starbucks where you had met your friend Dirk. Er, friend? You suppose that it was okay to call him that to yourself. In the end all he was was an acquaintance, at least for now. Who was to say that he wanted to be anything different? Uhmm - more importantly, why did it matter? This was your day off, you told yourself. You shouldn't have been thinking about school, or classmates. 

Nope! 

_TT: And that's more or less what happened while I was trying to put together that new robot._  
 _TT: Maybe I should just fork it over to you. You're actually pretty good with your hands._  
 _TT: Building robots._  
 _TT: I mean._  
 _TT: Right._  
 _TT: GT, are you there?_

Oh, jesus christmas, you were in the middle of conversation!

Your hands were back on the keyboard as quickly as possible.

_GT: Yes im here. Sorry!_  
 _TT: You picked a weird ass time to get sidetracked by porn._  
 _GT: Whos sidetracked? And i wasnt looking at porn!_  
 _TT: Not even your sexy blue ladies?_  
 _GT: NO!!_  
 _TT: Alright, alright._

Maybe you could at least give him your phone number next time.

Even an email address. It was common to exchange student emails!

Whatever your brilliant plan of action was, you had the rest of the day to think it through.

Tomorrow it was crunch time!

You were fully prepared to fuck this up.

Especially since it wasn't even noon on a Sunday, and you were already worried.

Oh, boy.

**== > Jake: Proceed to inexplicably worry over nothing for the next 24 hours.**


	3. I Really Like You!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jake could practically feel his heart beating out of his chest - this was insane. Completely insane. Why was he reacting to Dirk this way? 
> 
> His statement had been honest. Even so, once he paused long enough to realize that he standing there gazing at the other, and in return Dirk was looking at him with an almost startled expression, Jake took a few steps back. Awkward!

It was midday, and the school cafeteria bustled with life. Crowds of students surrounded the tables and the checkout line. 

Jake English was doing his best to keep his mind on his school work, but that was proving to be more difficult that it had sounded when he was trying to give himself a mental pep talk earlier. _You can do this, it's only one stupid school day!_ He could watch the teachers at the front of the class, or keep his eyes on his assignment, or glance up at the clock, but that was only so occupying. His brain was focused elsewhere, and it was actually pretty annoying!

If there was one thing about school life that Jake was inexperienced at, it was the relationship aspect - and this wasn't even a romantic relationship!

Though, it might as well have been, because that's all he was thinking about.

They had spoken one friggin' time, him and Dirk!

That didn't warrant throwing his mind so out of focus, did it? 

Maybe it was the fact that the other had helped him pay for his food, or that he seemed like a nice enough person, or that willingly gave Jake the time of day. So far Jake had kept to himself, aside from a couple of girl friends that he had spent time with on occasion. If he had any intention of not lying to himself, he also might've guessed that it was because this Dirk also had quite the dashing set of eyes - or his looks in general, actually. 

" _Oh man_!" 

He had been so busy thinking about his friend, that the plasticware and plates were now a foot or more behind him in the food line. 

Rather ungracefully, he backed out of his place in line, and wriggled his way through the students standing in front of the needed supplies. 

Jake was sure that he was getting some odd looks from students who were probably wondering why he hadn't just grabbed them in the first place.

The boy tried to ignore some of the stares, as he composed himself and followed the line again. 

He really needed to start paying better attention, didn't he? 

Within the following handful of minutes his plate had filled up with food, a bottle of soda positioned under his arm as he forked the needed change over to the cashier. At least this time he had managed to successfully pay for food, and not trip over himself like a loon, and then not have enough to pay. He'd come prepared, _and_ watched where he was going!

He made a mental note to joke with TT about his clumsiness later on, not that his online friend didn't do that often enough as it was.

Across the room were multiple lunch tables, all pretty lengthy, and mostly filled with students. 

There was one table off to the left that wasn't holding many students, however, so he set his sights on that one. 

As he walked he attempted to scan the room for familiar faces, and he was more than a little disappointed to not spot anyone familiar. By anyone, he meant less of "anyone", and more that he hadn't yet seen his new friend today. Even after that- 

" _Hello_ ". 

_Jesus H Christ!!_

"Ah! Good grief!" Tray almost falling out his hands in shock, he turned towards the direction of the voice. 

Dirk had spoken almost directly into his ear, from his position at Jake's side, and wait a bloody minute- how had he not noticed him there?! 

Out of some automatic reaction, Dirk had placed a hand under Jake's tray to ensure that it wasn't going to topple over. 

They both had stopped walking.

"Careful", Dirk's expression was fairly soft, and Jake was beginning to wonder how he always seemed so composed. 

Words needed to come to him faster than they had, because by the time the dark-haired boy had finally spoken, a few seconds too many had passed.  
"When did you even flippin' get there?!" Maybe Dirk had intentionally spooked him?

The blonde gave a small smile, or something that was caught between a smile and smirk. "I'd only been following you for a few seconds, no big deal really". He shrugged it off, like perhaps he hadn't found it weird that he had remained undetected, because that was how lost in thought that Jake had been. Great. Fabulous. At least Dirk hadn't known him well enough to tease him, because that's generally how he was used to be treated in moments like this. Dirk didn't tease him, though. It was the complete opposite. He was ignoring his clumsiness altogether, and as they made their way towards the tables, the subject seemed to have dropped completely. 

Jake was okay with this.

Sitting down, he realized that his new found friend had even taken it upon himself to sit across from him this lunch period.

Dirk had only one thing even resembling a lunch in his hands, though, and that was a single bottle of Orange Crush soda. 

Wasn't he going to eat more than that? He had done the same before too - left without food at a place that was meant to serve food. 

"I ate a big breakfast."

"Excuse me..?" Jake paused, taking a breath in between bites of his sandwich to question the other. 

"You were giving me that look." He says, confusingly.

Was he a mind reader? Jake said nothing. 

" _Why the hell are you only drinking a soda for lunch? _", the other boy finished, snapping the cap off of the bottle, and letting it hiss before taking a drink from it. " _You should really be more healthy_ ", he continued, his voice mocking a caring tone. " _Here, let me buy you this hamburger_ ". These were obviously comments that had been made to him before.__

__He'd held tone that had been a little sarcastic, and it made Jake laugh a little. "Right, um, sorry!" He really needed to get more words out around the other. That needed to be given a good heave ho. "I was just a little concerned, you really didn't eat much the last time either."_ _

__The edge in Dirk's voice left then. "Don't worry about me, I eat plenty", he said, taking another drink of his soda._ _

__He had quite the set of muscles, Jake noticed. Maybe he worked out regularly, and was more choosy about what or when he ate meals. The boy settled on the fact that was more than likely it, and went back to eating his own food. He had tons of questions he wanted to ask the other. Where he had moved from, or who his friends were, or what he did outside of school. Yet now, here they were, talking without any distractions, and Jake had barely said anything at all that wasn't about stupid lunch, let alone asking the kid personal questions._ _

__It wasn't like he was at all about to blurt out 'Hey, lets get to know each other better!', they weren't middle school girls, after all._ _

__Sudden movement from the other broke his train of thought._ _

__Dirk had pushed himself up from the table, and looked like he was preparing to head off somewhere._ _

__Jake looked a little taken aback, and peered up at him. "Err- got some place you need to be?"_ _

__The blonde gave a light nod, "Yeeeah, unfortunately I agreed to meet someone today." He said, almost sounding reluctant to see whoever it happened to be. "Then I saw you, and I thought I'd take a detour"._ _

__"Y-You did?" Jake had placed his sandwich down on the food tray, and was now almost nervously fidgeting with napkin as he spoke. "You didn't have to"._ _

__He thought that Dirk had almost looked confused, but then again, Jake really did to have the worst time forming coherent sentences around his kid._ _

__Another drink of orange soda was taken, "It's fine. I enjoy seeing you", he replied, and gave Jake a small, genuine smile._ _

__He had just _smiled_. _ _

__Well, really smiled._ _

__For the first time since they had met!_ _

__Jake could practically feel his heart beating out of his chest - this was insane. Completely insane. Why was he reacting to Dirk this way?_ _

__Maybe he was losing his mind. He had just met him, and Dirk was a guy! Not that Jake had anything marriage equality or the like, in fact in his friend TT had expressed having feelings for Jake before, and he had played with the idea of dating the other. It would've been through text of course, but the fact remained that he had nearly been okay with it. It was less TT's gender that had stopped him, and more that they lived so gosh darned far apart from one another!_ _

__Thinking of the situation that way, maybe reacting to Dirk in such a way wasn't so out of the blue._ _

__At the same time, a certain piece of paper was burning a hole through the inside of his school bag._ _

__"Jake?" Dirk asked, blinking once or twice at the other._ _

__All at once, his thoughts re-focused, and Jake cleared his throat. "What?! Oh! Oh. Sorry. Yes." _goddammit_! "Good luck then.." before he knew it, he was standing next to the other, food still on the table. "with whomever you're going to meet" he finished._ _

__Jake's eyes stayed on Dirk, and blonde watched the other right back, looking at him curiously._ _

__His statement had been honest. Even so, once he paused long enough to realize that he standing there gazing at the other, and in return Dirk was looking at him with an almost startled expression, Jake took a few steps back. Awkward!_ _

__For the first time, Dirk almost looked uneasy. "Sure. Thank you", though he still wasn't taking his eyes off Jake, and eventually had to break his gaze away. "I'm gonna get going."_ _

__Jake nodded in response, no words given, as he slide back into his seat at the table._ _

__That was a fine display, English!_ _

__"I've really got to pay more attention, and keep myself in check before I scare him off with my.. whatever it is!" he said to himself, speaking under his breath, as he reached into his school bag. What he pulled out was a small, folded up letter, and reading it helped put his thoughts into some perspective._ _

__It was a love letter of sorts, from his friend Jane Crocker. She was one of the two girls that actually willingly spent time with him, and she was a swell person. Jake admired her for being so thoughtful, and listening when he needed someone to talk to. Sometimes they studied together, and she had been one of the people that Jake had been keeping an eye out for today, before he had run into Dirk, that is. This confession though, sure put a spin on things. Not in a way that made him feel at all too comfortable._ _

__His eyes scanned the words._ _

__He had read over them a few times now._ _

__

___'Hi, Jake!_ _ _

___I know this may come as a shock to you, and I'm really surprised that I'm even writing this! I just have something to tell you, that I really think I should go ahead and say. I don't want to make things awkward, and I don't know where you stand with this, but for the past few months I've gotten to know you a little better, and.. Well! Jake, I haven't ever heard you talk about having a crush yet. So maybe, that means you don't have one? If that's the case then would you be okay with us possibly, oh I don't know, going out for ice cream sometime? I know normally it's the guy that's supposed to ask the girl, but I've been thinking a lot about it, and I'd just like to know if you're interested at all. Is that bad of me?_ _ _

___Wow, this is super all over the place, I should stop now, huh?_ _ _

___Jake English, I really like you!_ _ _

___\- Love (???), Jane.'_ _ _

__

__That had fallen out of his locker this morning._ _

__What was a boy to do?_ _

__Originally, Jake might've confessed right back, if only because it wouldn't have hurt to try with Jane. She was really a very nice person, and any guy would've been lucky to have her, in Jake's opinion. Though, things hadn't worked out that easily. Now, instead of Jane, he couldn't get a certain anime-shade-wearing blonde out his head! This wasn't as all how he imagined his high school dating life would've gone._ _

__There was one thing he was certain of, and that was that he wasn't in the right mind set to reply to her letter right now._ _

__Throughout the rest of the school day, his thoughts remained all over the place._ _

__Maybe tonight he would talk to TT about some of this, and see how his friend felt. Having a second opinion might help him settle one way or another. Sure, he could bite the bullet and date Jane, but would he be happy?_ _

__One thing he could try was redirecting his thoughts away from Dirk and on to Jane._ _

__That might work!_ _

__A little influence never hurt anyone- anyone.._ _

__..before._ _

__Here came Dirk, turning the corner into Jake's respective hallway, arms partially full of books like he was in the middle of his last locker run for the day. Still, the way he walked and carried himself was nearly too perfect - even when juggling books. Love letter? What love letter? Jake had nearly lost track of any thoughts that he had prior. Dirk was talking to a girl who followed him at a side, and they both looked like they perhaps they were close friends. Maybe they were such, after all it's not like Jake had learned much about the other boy yet._ _

__The two friends seemed to notice Jake at much the same time._ _

__Difference was that Dirk paused, and then by his lead, so did the girl. She turned to him, and spoke, but Jake couldn't make out her words._ _

__Dirk glanced at Jake, and then back at his friend, and said something in return to her comment. She nodded, and continued walking as Dirk fell behind with Jake. As she passed by, she gave Jake a sly smile, and his eyes widened. What on Earth?_ _

__This time, Jake spoke first, trying to stay composed. "Fancy running in to you again!" His thoughts whirled, but he was attempting to do a good job of not showing that to anyone else._ _

__"Indeed" spoke the other. "It seems we have a habit of bumping into each other"._ _

__Dirk smiled, giving a small "Heh" after his sentence._ _

__Good golly, did he have to be so attractive all the time? Even without trying?_ _

__Jake was almost jealous. Almost. It would've helped if he weren't so into him._ _

__Wait._ _

__Into him? Was he really into Dirk that much? Maybe that was obvious, what with all of his thinking about him, and friend-zoning Jane so quickly that he barely gave dating her a second thought. Why? Because he was too busy thinking about the boy that he had bumped into at the cafe. Consequences be damned, he was falling for another guy. So there, he'd said it. He was falling for Dirk._ _

__Good!_ _

__That wasn't so hard to admit. Right? Right!_ _

__He hoped._ _

__Now all he had to do was deal with it. Hahahah.. hah. That sure sounded easier than it had proved to be this far._ _

___Help_._ _

__Wait just a hot second!_ _

__The cafe. That was a good idea._ _

__Had he been staring again? Dirk wasn't looking at him oddly, so maybe he hadn't spaced out for too long yet. He could save this!_ _

__"Say, Dirk" saying the name still felt unnatural to him. "I was wondering, you remember that cafe where we met?"_ _

__The reply was automatic, not nervous or hesitant at all. Probably because it was a silly question, and Jake had been self aware of that fact. "Yeah. It's that Starbucks across the street. What about it?" He raised an eyebrow._ _

__"Could we perhaps meet there again," Jake tried to give a small smile. "Tomorrow morning?"_ _

__He watched as Dirk seemed to register the question, and then situation along with it. He then peer momentarily out one of the nearby windows that lined the hall. They were ground level, and sunlight poured into the room. Through the sunlight, his glasses were slightly more transparent. Jake noticed just how well he could see his eyes and his full expression this way. He could read him easier. The blonde looked lost in thought, like he was debating, but his eyes were calm._ _

__As the silence continued, Jake grew a little more nervous._ _

__"Eerr, maybe not? It was a silly idea, sorry if-"_ _

__His words were cut short, with a confident sounding "Sure" from Dirk._ _

__"I-" Jake looked towards the other, shocked, repeating his statement as question. "Sure? Really?"_ _

__"Entirely"._ _

__' _Whoah.._ ' Jake allowed himself a confident smile now. "Spot on! I'll see you tomorrow then?"_ _

__Dirk grinned a little in return, seeming lax, and continued on his way to his locker after a final nod of confirmation._ _

__Once his crush was out of sight, Jake spun around on his heel towards his destination, laughing to himself under his breath. Who even cares that he almost bumped into an incoming group of students during his little celebratory fiasco? He certainly didn't._ _

__Oh my stars, he had a date with Dirk!_ _

__Ahahahah!_ _

__Perhaps he would leave out that _small_ part of his day, when he talked with TT this evening._ _

__Jake wondered if his internet friend would be mad at him if he went to bed a little early tonight. Nah!_ _


End file.
